Tray for carding machine cleaner



June 11, 1968 J. E. CROWLEY, JR 3,3

TRAY FOR CARDING MACHINE CLEANER Filed May 8, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 1INVENTOR. JOHN E. CRowLEYyk A TTORNEYS.

June 11, 1968 J. E. CROWLEY, JR 3,38

TRAY FOR CARDING MACHINE CLEANER Filed May 8, 1967 r 2 Sheets-Sheet 2SOURCE M OF SUCTION COLLECTOR 29 2 a I NVENTOR.

A TTORN Y5.

JOHN E. CRowLExJn.

United States Patent 0 3,387,336 TRAY FOR CARDING MACHINE CLEANER JohnE. Crowley, In, IE0, Box 15511, Charlotte, N.C. 28210 Filed May 8, 1967,Ser. No. 636,782 4 Claims. (Cl. 19-107) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Anelongated tray is provided for use with a suction plenum having anelongated suction orifice across and adjacent the area in which the lapis transferred from the main cylinder to the doifer cylinder of acarding machine. The tray is positioned by spaced longitudinal supportsfor guiding waste material into the orifice. The tray is spaced from anupper surface of the plenum thus, providing a suction orifice to cleanthe upper surface of the plenum and guard against foreign objectsfalling into the card clothing. A guide or guard is positioned forwardlyand adjacent the brush for guiding waste from the flats into the tray.

This invention relates to cleaning devices for textile carding machines,and more particularly to a tray for use with suction equipment whichguides waste into the orifice of the suction equipment and serves as aguard to prevent foreign objects from falling into the card clothing.

Heretofore, suction equipment has been provided adjacent the point atwhich the lap is transferred from the main cylinder to the dofiercylinder of a carding machine. Such a device is shown in my copendingapplication executed Oct. 16, 1966, entitled Doifer Plenum, bearing Ser.No. 587,277, filed Oct. 17, 1966. Such devices perform two importantfunctions namely; reduce the fly generated at the transfer point bysucking-01f air currents generated beneath the main cylinder and thedofi'er cylinder which result from the differential in their high ratesof rotation, and removes such air-borne lint and waste as are generated.It has been found, however, that toppings from the card flats and otherwaste escape the action of the equipment described above because they donot come within the influence of the rather confined suction areaeffected by the suction orifice and foreign objects such as hammers,wrenches and other tools slide down the inclined surface of the plenumand fall between the main cylinder and the doffer cylinder causingdamage to the card clothing.

Accordingly, it is an important object of this invention to provide aguide for introducing waste into the effective area of the orifice sothat it may be removed by the suction action thereof, and guard againstforeign objects falling between the main cylinder and the doffercylinder.

Another object of the invention is to provide a guard for guidingtoppings and the like into the tray described above so as to beeffectively removed by the suction generated by the plenum.

Another important object of the invention is to provide a means forkeeping the plenum itself free from undesirable waste and avoid damageto the card clothing.

The construction designed to carry out the invention will be hereinafterdescribed, together with other features thereof.

The invention will be more readily understood from a reading of thefollowing specification and by reference to the accompanying drawingsforming a part thereof, wherein an example of the invention is shown andwhere- FIGURE 1 is a schematic side elevation, with parts broken awayand parts in section, illustrating a tray and topping guide positionedupon a carding machine in ac cordance with the present invention,

3,387,336 Patented June 11, 1968 ICC FIGURE 2 is a perspective view ofthe tray illustrated in FIGURE 1 looking toward the front of the maincylinder, and

FIGURE 3 is a rear elevation further illustrating the tray.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, a cleaning device for atextile card having flats, a main cylinder, and a doifer cylinder, isillustrated. The cleaning device has a suction plenum A with anelongated suction orifice positioned across and above the main cylinderand the doffer cylinder closely adjacent thereto. An elongated tray Bfor receiving waste is positioned below the flats and extends across themain cylinder and the dofier cylinder. Supports C are spacedlongitudinally of the tray positioning the tray for guiding waste intothe orifice. The tray is spaced from an upper surface of said plenum soas to define an elongated suction orifice D for receiving waste from theupper surface of the plenum. The tray also guards against foreignobjects passing over the plenum between the main cylinder and the doffercylinder. The tray B includes an upper topping guiding surface inclinedrearwardly and downwardly toward the main cylinder for guiding toppingsinto the orifice, and a lower guard surface inclined forwardly anddownwardly from a lower portion of the upper surface toward the uppersurface of said plenum. A downwardly and rearwardly extending guide E ispositioned forwardly and adjacent the brush for guiding waste materialinto the tray.

FIGURE 1 illustrates a carding machine upon which a cleaning device andtray are positioned. The carding machine has a frame 10, a main cylinder11 and a dotfer cylinder 12. Card flats 13 are provided with the usualbrush 14 for cleaning purposes and the usual comb is carried by the combbar 15. The main cylinder 11 is provided with a front top plate 16, adoor 17 and a bottom plate 18. The bonnet is removed from the bonnetassembly 19 to accommodate the suction plenum A.

The suction plenum A includes an arcuate top 20 which is positionedabove the doffer cylinder and generally conforms thereto except that itapproaches the periphery of the dolfer cylinder in the area where thelap is transferred from the main cylinder to the doffer cylinder duringcarding. The suction plenum A has a bottom 21 which is closely adjacentthe doffer cylinder and has side portions 21a on each side thereof,which are fastened to the bonnet assembly as by the bolts 19a whichnormally secure the bonnet thereto. The suction plenum A has sides 22and 23 and an opening 23a communicating with a source of suction. Afront wall 24 has an elongated orifice 25 extending across the doffercylinder which is defined by a plurality of aligned horizontal slots.The other end of the plenum is open as at 26 to define a suction orificeextending across and in between the main cylinder and the doffercylinder adjacent the transfer point of the lap. A hood which ispreferably constructed of plexiglass extends over the web delivery andcrush roll elements (not shown). The hood 27 is attached as by a pianohinge 28 to a forwardly extending portion 20a of the top 20.

Referring now to FIGURES 2 and 3, it will be noted that a duct 29connects the opening 23a in the suction plenum to a source of suctionwhich is provided with a collector for accumulating the waste drawn intothe suction orifices. The source of suction and collector is sche- 5 maically illustrated at 30.

The tray B has a curved back plate 31 conforming to the main cylinderwhich is placed against the door 17 and the bottom plate 18. The backplate 31 extends between and is joined to the spaced supports C towhich, in turn, the tray is suitably connected as by welding (notshown). The tray has an upper topping guiding surface 32 inclinedrcarwardly and downwardly toward the main cylinder for guiding toppingsinto the orifice 26. A lower guard surface 33 is inclined forwardly anddownwardly from a lower portion of the upper surface toward the uppersurface 20 of the plenum and thereby defines an orifice D therebetween.The toppings from the card flats 13 fall upon the inclined surface 32and are guided downwardly over the back plate 31 into the orifice 26.The orifice D cleans the top 20 of the suction plenum and preventstools, such as wrenches and hammers, which are placed thereon fromfalling between the main cylinder and the doffer cylinder causing damageto the card clothing.

A downwardly and rearwardly extending guide E is positioned forwardly ofthe brush and is carried as by brackets 15a which are connected to thecomb bar 15. Thus, the toppings are guided downwardly and rearwardlytoward the downwardly and rearwardly inclined surface 32 of the tray B.Air-borne lint is also guided toward the tray B and falls downwardlyover the back plate 31 and through the orifice D into the orifice 26. Itis thus seen that toppings from the flats are guided into the orifice,as well as provision being made for collecting airborne lint. The tray 8also serves as a guard against foreign objects falling between the maincylinder and the doffer cylinder.

While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been described usingspecific terms, such description is for illustrative purposes only, andit is to be understood that changes and variations may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit or scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination with a cleaning device for a textile card havingflats, a main cylinder and a doflFer cylinder, said cleaning devicehaving a suction plenum with an elongated suction orifice positionedacross and above the main cylinder and the dotfer cylinder closelyadjacent thereto for sucking-off air currents generated beneath the maincylinder and the dotfer cylinder in the area where the lap istransferred from the main cylinder to the doflfer cylinder duringcarding, the improvement including, an elongated tray for receivingwaste material positioned below the flats extending across the maincylinder and the doffer cylinder, sup-ports spaced longitudinally of thetray positioning said tray for guiding waste material into said orifice,and said tray being spaced from said plenum so as to define an elongatedsuction orifice receiving waste material from the upper surface of theplenum and yet guarding against foreign objects passing over the plenumand thence between the main cylinder and the doffer cylinder whilepermitting such sucking-off of air currents.

2. The structure set forth in claim 1, wherein said tray includes anupper topping guiding surface inclined rearwardly and downwardly towardthe main cylinder for guiding toppings into the orifice, and a lowerguard surface inclined forwardly and downwardly from a lower portion ofthe upper surface toward the upper surface of said plenum.

3. The structure set forth in clam 1, wherein said card has a brushassembly for cleaning said flats, the improvement including, adownwardly and rearwardly extending guide positioned forwardly andadjacent the brush assembly for guiding waste material into the tray.

4. A cleaning device for a textile card having flats, a main cylinderand a doffer cylinder including, a suction plenum with an elongatedsuction orifice positioned across and above the main cylinder and thedoffer cylinder closely adjacent thereto for sucking-off air currentsgenerated beneath the main cylinder and the dotfer cylinder in the areawhere the lap is transferred from the main cylinder to the dofiercylinder during carding and an upper surface inclined downwardly fromabove the doffer cylinder toward the main cylinder, an elongated trayfor receiving waste material positioned below the flats extending acrossthe main cylinder and the dofler cylinder, supports spacedlongitudinally of the tray positioning said tray for guiding wastematerial into said orifice, and said tray being spaced from said plenumso as to define an elongated suction orifice receiving waste materialfrom the upper surface of the plenum and yet guarding against foreignobjects passing over the upper surface of the plenum and thencedownwardly between the main cylinder and the dotfer cylinder whilepermitting such sucking-off of air currents.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,357,062 12/1967 ONeal et al.19107 3,315,320 4/1965 Bass et al. 19107 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,025 2/1963Japan. 7,565- 5/1916 Great Britain. 20,065 9/1915 Great Britain. 762,40311/ 1956 Great Britain. 1,301,384 7/1962 France. 1,366,786 6/1964France. 1,400,608 4/1965 France.

MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner.

IRA C. WADDEY, JR., Assistant Examiner.

